BERKELEY, CA - MARCH 19: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks during the Berkeley Forum on the UC Berkeley campus on March 19, 2014 in Berkeley, California. Paul addressed the Berkeley Forum and focused on the importance of privacy and curtailing domestic government surveillance. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

BERKELEY, CA - MARCH 19: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks during...

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UC Berkeley freshman Ryon Sabouni, 18, listens with others to Senator Rand Paul (not shown) during the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

BERKELEY, CA - MARCH 19: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks to reporters after addressing the Berkeley Forum on the UC Berkeley campus on March 19, 2014 in Berkeley, California. Paul addressed the Berkeley Forum and focused on the importance of privacy and curtailing domestic government surveillance. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

BERKELEY, CA - MARCH 19: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks to...

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Senator Rand Paul speaks during a press conference after addressing the Berkeley Forum on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

Senator Rand Paul speaks during a press conference after addressing...

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Senator Rand Paul (second from left) follows moderator Matthew Freeman (left) as they walk off the stage after addressing the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

Senator Rand Paul (right) answers a question from moderator Matthew Freeman (left) during the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

Audience members stand and applaud as Senator Rand Paul (in red tie) arrives to address the Berkeley Forum at the Chevron Auditorium, International House on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in Berkeley, Calif.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom watched intently this week as potential presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul denounced "drunk with power" government spy agencies to a hall full of UC Berkeley students - and was showered with cheers and a standing ovation.

"The issue of privacy is the issue of our time," Newsom said afterward. But he was less focused on the message than on the messenger: a Republican senator from Kentucky who attracted an adoring crowd in one of the most liberal cities in the U.S.

Newsom was something of an advance scout for Democrats, especially former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Newsom was an early endorser of her 2008 presidential run and will be on board again should she decide to run in 2016.

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"I am interested in who (Paul) is and why this message has resonance, particularly with young people," Newsom said, motioning around the room. "Who are these folks?

"From a political perspective, Democrats, particularly, should pay attention to it," Newsom said.

Paul's Berkeley reception showed that his rise toward the top of 2016 Republican polls is fueled in part by younger voters. They're drawn by his message that the government is stepping on ordinary people's rights by collecting millions of phone and e-mail metadata records, by refusing to rule out drone strikes against U.S. citizens under "extraordinary circumstances" and by impeding a Senate investigation into alleged torture of terrorism suspects.

'Very strategic'

"This guy is not shooting from the hip," Newsom said. "He's very intentional, very strategic - and he's not someone I am quick to dismiss."

But Democrats are hopeful that if Paul manages to win the GOP nomination, his views on incendiary social issues will dilute his support among young voters.

Robert Reich, the Clinton administration labor secretary who was also in the audience Wednesday, noted that on such issues as gun control, abortion, same-sex marriage and gays in the military, Paul is one of the Senate's most conservative members. If he doesn't "change his positions," Reich suggested, Paul would have difficulty winning a general election.

Paul opposes letting gays and lesbians into the military, would repeal most gun-control legislation and says states should be free to ban same-sex marriage. Until recently, he opposed all abortions, though he now has suggested that he is open to "exceptions" that may include when the mother's life is at stake.

In an interview, Paul acknowledged the problems of trying to win over blue-state young people with red-state views.

"You know, I think part of the answer is that we agree to disagree on some of these things," he said. "I don't think the Republican Party is all of a sudden going to become, 'Oh, we're the pro-gay marriage, pro-choice party.' "

'A bigger tent'

But Paul suggested that the Republican Party could become "a bigger tent that included people who believed in those issues and people who didn't."

"The reason why the Republican Party can't completely transform on these issues is that ... many of us, myself included, are socially conservative," Paul said. "But if I am, it doesn't mean I've got to beat you over the head with it if you're not.

"I think there is a way we can coexist and get people into the party," he said. "So I'm hoping there's going to be a big tent on these issues."

Some libertarians say Paul appears skillful enough to walk the more-freedom, more-conservative tightrope than other Republicans have managed to do.

"He's a blend," said Patrick Dorinson, a Sacramento talk-radio host who writes the Cowboy Libertarian blog. "He focused on the NSA (National Security Agency) and your individual freedom. And on the social issues, he's trying to straddle it."

Straddling it, Dorinson said, mostly means "Leave it up to the states."

Paul is "trying to get the college kids to give him a hearing," Dorinson said.

Newsom said Paul could be just what the Republican Party needs on the national level - a fresh face and unorthodox voice, calling for change and openness in his own party.

Democrats' message to young voters about Paul, should it come to that, would be "What you see is not necessarily what you get," Newsom said.

Paul "may sound empathetic" on issues like spying and privacy, Newsom said, but "on other issues, he is not a lot different from the old crust of the GOP."